“Some Words for the Week”

We all want for what we take in

to feel good

to sit well

to settle and not disturb

there would be few complaints

if all my poems were happy

and ended with the image

of a flower opening in the sun

but oh this is a world

of elderly presidents

and forest fires

and hummingbirds

flying faster than we can see

this is a world of genocide

and newborn puppies

and drive thru restaurants

with lines backing up into traffic

this is a world

where the winter is waning

and the summers are hungry

and where the youth

look to the future

with fear instead of fantasy

I wish I could write

a poem that would fix the world

and trust me in my cabin

alone and cold

I’ve tried but the truth I’ve found

is that there is no hope

there is no dread either

there is no tomorrow really

or last year

there is only this morning

and the way

the red tailed hawk glides

so slowly

over the dawn pink snow

Alexander Shalom Joseph is a writer from Gilpin County. He has two published books and one more forthcoming in the Fall of 2022. For more information and to subscribe to Alexander’s Newsletter go to alexandershalomjoseph.com